Scott Wykoff's Blog

Monday, August 25, 2008

Maryland Delegation Sitting More Than A Mile High

On this opening day of the Democratic National Convention the Maryland delegation will be sitting high off the floor of the Pepsi Center. I checked out their location and it is in the stands in Section 116, rows 15 through 21.

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As Michelle Obama speaks tonight she will have to look high off to her left to see members of the Maryland delegation. I guess you could call it "Rocky Mountain High" treatment for the Marylanders. Four years ago I remember Maryland had a pretty good location on the floor and not in the stands like this year. Elijah Cummings will be the one to announce Maryland’s vote in the floor roll call (even though he will be up in Section 116).

He has a laptop, a phone, a monitor and a microphone all on a stand in front of his seat. Louisiana is the delegation right in front of Maryland’s seats.

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Maryland delegates will be able to get to concessions and the bathrooms much quicker than those state delegations whose floor seats are actually on the floor of the Pepsi Center.

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With Barack Obama and Joe Biden in line for party nominations, both Illinois and Delaware have prime floor locations right in front of the stage.

Space on the floor is hard to come by and I heard someone mention today that CNN was given space for a larger floor set than some other media organizations.

The “house band” will sit off to the right side of the podium. Today while they were rehearsing they played those safe convention staples like “Celebrate” by Kool and the Gang and “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow” by Fleetwood Mac. They also threw in “Sing A Song” by Earth, Wind and Fire.

Some of my colleagues who went to the Rockies game on Saturday night at Coors Field said the ballpark wasn’t as impressive at Camden Yards, and the food wasn’t as good either.

Coors (the brewery I can see out my hotel window) has come out with a special limited edition beer called “New West Amber Ale”. I’ve been told it is pretty tasty. Coors is also providing 200 proof ethanol that is being used to power some vehicles at the convention. I even watched a guy sip it!

A special shout-out to Andrew Cohen of CBS Radio News. He hosted a get- together at his house in a suburb south of Denver. He was kind to include me. Andrew does a great job as the legal analyst for CBS and on TV here in Denver. And much to my delight, he is a huge horse racing fan. I was in all my splendor when I walked into his living room only to see a pair of TVs showing races from all over the country. His Mother, a former resident of Columbia, Md., came to the party and we had fun talking about Baltimore..